Research

The Effect of Voltage and Distance between Coils on the Distance Traveled by a Car

How will the voltage and distance between the coils affect the distance traveled by a car? The purpose of the experiment is to discover which independent variable creates the greatest effect on the distance traveled by the car. This is relevant today because gas prices are rising and fossil fuels are beginning to run out. Nowadays, people are struggling to pay for bills and keeping food on the table. If people did not have to pay for gas at all, thousands of dollars would be saved a year.

In the first step of experimentation, the electric motor was attached to the toy car. Next, an iron rod was placed in each of the copper coils with 1000 turns. Then the transformer is attached to the first iron rod that was wrapped in copper coil. Wire was used to attach the second iron rod wrapped in copper to the rectifier. The rectifier was attached to the electric motor. The iron rod was placed under the table and the car on top of the table. The circuit was then closed. A variable transformer was used to change the number of volts going through the primary coil. A ruler was used to measure the distance traveled by the car.

It was found that the voltage used and the distance between the coils were significant. Also, the interaction between the voltage and distance between the coils was significant. The researches accepted their hypothesis that stated a high (+) amount of direct current and a small (-) distance between the coils will yield the highest energy transfer into an electric motor and propel the car the farthest. This experiment could be reproduced with actual roads and cars on a much larger scale.